Hornig Capital Partners

Every major city struggles with air pollution, but the situation in the Bronx is among the worst in the country. The New York City borough’s asthma death rate per 1 million people was 36.2 in 2014, according to the New York State Department of Health, nearly double the rest of the city.

The issue has spurred the creation of community groups and activists concerned for the quality of air they and their children are exposed to each day. But at least one developer has taken notice of the issue as well and is integrating healthcare into its next housing project in the Bronx.

Hornig Capital Partners is building a $156 million, 314-unit affordable housing project that will incorporate a 50,000-square-foot ambulatory care facility, teaching kitchen and pharmacy. The kitchen will provide a place for residents to learn to cook with fresh vegetables from the building’s rooftop garden and the pharmacy will be prohibited from selling cigarettes so that it does not contribute to the respiratory issues of the area’s residents.

The project, set for completion in late-2018, is a partnership among Hornig Capital, L+M Development Partners and SBH Health Systems, which operates the nearby St. Barnabas Hospital. The combination of affordable housing and healthcare represents the community-perspective approach Hornig Capital brings to its developments.

“When we look at a real estate project it’s not just another real estate project on the block,” founder and Managing Partner Daren Hornig says. “It’s ‘how does this real estate development interact with the environment?’ We’re looking for how it intersects with the lifestyle and dynamics of a different area.”

Buildings With Character

Hornig founded his namesake firm five years ago after working as a real estate broker, entrepreneur and a partner in two different development firms. Setting out on his own gave Hornig the opportunity to pursue his own vision of real estate, which he describes as “finding environments that are creative and dynamic and not just your typical cookie-cutter places.”

Many of Hornig Capital’s projects are renovations of existing buildings, designed to retain the character of the original structures while making them suitable for modern work environments. “We focus a lot on office and residential projects and we’ve done three warehouse-to-office conversions,” Hornig says.

Hornig Capital’s most recent project is the epitome of those conversion projects. The Box Factory, located in New York’s Bushwick/Ridgewood neighborhood, is an on-the-nose name referring to the 63,000-square-foot building’s former use, but it’s now in the final stages of transforming into creative commercial and retail space. The company changed the flow of the building and moved the entry point from Irving Avenue to Decatur Street to make it more conducive to mass transportation. Hornig invested over $6 million in the renovation and 110 windows were added to make it a more appealing place to work and shop.

The structure is actually made up of three buildings that were combined into a single complex years ago, creating a maze of load-bearing walls and columns. Hornig Capital identified those structural elements and removed walls wherever possible to create a more open environment throughout the building.

Hornig credits his instinct for finding a design that repurposed the industrial elements of the building for commercial users. “When I walk into a building literally within the first five minutes I have a good feel for the bones of a building and the general components of what can make the building work,” he explains. “I just think through the work flow, how the building should be juxtaposed around the street, around the environment and how it should be utilized.”

By keeping the original structure, The Box Factory will be a place with personality. Hornig envisions it as a hub for creativity-driven enterprises such as artists and musicians who will draw inspiration from their surroundings. “I think a lot of the old manufacturing warehouse buildings, just from their characteristics, have high ceilings and large column expansions and a lot of today’s tenants want the new old,” he says.

Food and craft beverages could be another draw. Hornig Capital is already in talks with two breweries interested in the site. That could lead to the formation of a brewery district with other nearby beer makers that would attract visitors similar to how wine enthusiasts travel to the North Fork of Long Island and Napa Valley.

Neighboring residents are already getting excited about the project, which will open in early 2018. Several people have stopped by to thank Hornig for the work the company has done in turning an eyesore into a valuable community asset. “It feels good to be in sync with the community and let them feel proud of something that also enhances their neighborhood,” he says.

Personal Touch

The Box Factory is only one piece in Hornig Capital’s growing portfolio. Since its founding five years ago, the company has completed or begun 12 projects collectively valued at more than $1 billion. Most projects are located in New York, but the company also owns a shopping center in Mayfield Heights, Ohio, and a mixed-use development site in Tampa Bay, Fla.

The company has been able to reach that level because it comes into every project with a strong plan for seeing it through. “We have a very clean vision of a property and the path to getting it developed,” Hornig says. His personal involvement with every development ensures that it stays on track. “It’s not like we’re giving projects to a low-level development person,” he says. “You’ll see me at every meeting.”

That hands-on approach helps Hornig Capital adjust to challenges in the market. Cost is an issue on every project, but Hornig says the company must also keep a careful eye on absorption – how many tenants are out there to fill a space. Absorption is less of an issue in dense city centers such as Manhattan and downtown Chicago where a new businesses are always ready to move in; however, the availability of tenants is a factor in outer areas like the New York boroughs where some of Hornig Capital’s projects are located.

It’s vital to design those developments to fill a need in the area so they will attract users. “In these emerging neighborhoods you don’t have as much of the musical chairs,” he explains.

Hornig Capital is up to that challenge. Whether it is a redevelopment of a former Schlitz Brewery or a ground-up 48-unit luxury condominium building at 211 Schermerhorn St. in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, Hornig says the work is fulfilling. His greatest joy is seeing how residents, shoppers and businesses enjoy living and working within the structures. “The buildings will outlive me,” he says.